Part 3

The housemaid, before leaving her room in the morning, should throw open the window, draw off the bed-clothes and hang them over a couple of chairs, at the foot of the bed, and then carefully shut the door on leaving the room. Wherever there is a window to open to air the bed-room, the door should never be left open, as nothing is so untidy as for any one passing by to see the beds unmade, and the washhand-stand in disorder. She should next go round the lower rooms and drawing-rooms to unclose the shutters, and open the windows, that all may be properly aired; let her then proceed to prepare the sitting-room, which will be first wanted, and in which the family are to breakfast. The grate is the first thing to be attended to, as it is a general rule that what is to make most dust in cleaning a room should be done first. Begin by folding up the rug, and carrying it into the court below to be shaken, then spread a covering sheet before the fire-place. If it is the season when no fire is required, all that is necessary is to dust out the grate and sweep the hearth, giving the shavings a shake from dust—if there are shavings in the grate, or if white paper is beyond the bars removing it if necessary, she should then rub the bars and sides of the grate briskly with a soft cloth, which should be previously held before a fire to remove the possibility of any dampness, for the slightest damp will cause polished steel to rust. But in winter the grate will require much more labour: having carefully spread the covering sheet, let her place upon it the coal-scuttle and wood for kindling the fire, also her box, which should be well stocked with the following articles. Emery paste for polished steel, and black lead for grates which are not polished; soft brushes for putting on the emery paste and lead, blacking and polishing brushes, emery-cloth, now used for cleaning the bars in preference to emery paper, and a soft leather for giving the last polish. It is only now and then that the sides of a grate which is brightly polished will require to be cleaned with emery paste, and then rubbed up, first with a soft cloth, and then with leather; but every day the sides of the grate will require to be rubbed with a soft cloth, which has been previously heated, and the bars rubbed with emery-cloth, the dust and ashes having been taken away in the dust-pan before this is done, and the sides of the vent and the back swept down very gently, that the soot may not fly out into the room, with a brush kept for the purpose. Much smoke and discomfort may be avoided by the housemaid regularly, once a week, when the room is thoroughly done out, sweeping the soot from the vent, as high as the arm can reach; it is not possible to get a brush with a very long handle up the vent, but in the bed-room story, where the vents are shorter, the top almost may be reached by putting up first a short hearth brush, then tying it to a longer handle, and to another and another, as you raise it in the vent. It may appear almost unnecessary to describe how it is to be got down again, but to prevent all distress of mind to the young and inexperienced, it may be mentioned that it is to be untied at the different joints as it is lowered again, and also that when this operation is to be performed, which will be necessary only once, or perhaps twice, during the winter, a fellow servant should assist by holding a sheet before the vent to prevent the soot getting out into the room. Great care must be taken, that after the brush has been raised high in the vent, it be not flourished about in a triumphant manner, but used with the greatest gentleness in removing the soot. As soon as all has been cleared away, carried down stairs, and the grate rubbed up and cleaned, proceed to lay the fire and to light it. If the fire is properly laid, one half of the wood generally used would suffice; a clever housemaid has been known to light even the drawing-room fire (which requires more wood than the bed-rooms), with seven pieces of wood; this however requires the skilful hand of what would be called, in the language of the day, a _talented_ housemaid; with moderate abilities, however, she maybe taught to light four fires with one bundle of wood, but even this will require attention and the exercise of common sense. If part of the ashes are left in a slovenly way in the bottom of the grate, so as to prevent the air from passing up, the wood thrust in without arrangement, a mass of cinders put on the top, and the window and door kept carefully shut, what is to be expected but that, as soon as the paper below the wood is lighted, the room should fill with smoke, and the fire go out before even the wood is burned away? The chief art in lighting a fire is to arrange it so that a stream of flame is carried up amongst the small coals, till they are so warmed and kindled as to burn of themselves: to effect this, the ashes and cinders should be entirely cleared out from the grate; then, having put a piece of paper, crushed together, in the bottom, and a few small pieces of the half-burned coal quite at the back, lay the wood above the paper so as to rest on those pieces of coal and on the front bar, taking care that they do not come out beyond the bar; lay some of the pieces of wood across the others, and, having formed this support for the coals, pile very small pieces, not larger than a nut, and very loosely, upon the wood, so as to leave room for the flame to pass up between them: the grate having been cleaned from the ashes, the air which comes in from the bottom will feed the flame, and drive it up through the spaces amongst the small coals, which, lying loosely together, will soon take a red heat; a sprinkling of the smallest coal should be added, as it flames easily, and is of assistance to the wood.

It is a very general practice with housemaids to pile cinders on the top of the wood, and then throw a quantity of small coal above them, the consequence of which is, that the air, not passing through to carry up the flame, the wood is burned away before the coals are lighted, and the smoke, not being able to penetrate this cake of coal, puffs out through the front bars of the grate, instead of going up the chimney, and soon fills the room, and (as the door is very generally left open, and the window kept shut), we may add the house also; for a careless servant, instead of waiting a few minutes to see how the fire is disposed to kindle, often leaves the room the moment she has set fire to the paper in the grate, and, having returned to the under story before the smoke begins, it is frequently first discovered by having reached the drawing-room, and, on examination, the bed-room is found to be in such a state from impenetrable smoke, that it is difficult to find one’s way to the window to throw open the sash. The paper on the walls, the curtains, and everything in the room, will receive more injury by being even once thoroughly smoked in this way than by six months of careful use. Care also should be taken that the register is opened before lighting a fire; in rooms where there is not fire during the day the register is generally shut, to prevent the back smoke getting down into the room, and the first thing a careful servant should do is to open the register before lighting the fire. Some chimneys vent better when the register is only half screwed back, so as to open only half the vent; some require to be entirely opened. A little attention will soon make the housemaid acquainted with the degree of draught which is necessary to carry up the smoke freely, and in most cases it will be found necessary to shut the door and open the window before lighting the fire; it is not the proper time to open the window after she has set light to the fire, for the chimney, being the only part in the room open to the air, the draught comes down the chimney, and brings out with it into the room the smoke of the new-made fire, so that before she has time to get to the window to open it the room is already half filled with smoke; she should therefore open the window first, which will make the proper draught for carrying up the smoke, and then set light to the fire.

There are very few chimneys that will not vent well if care is taken to make a proper draught, and not to choke the fire up with too much coal; very little should be put on at first, and more added as the fire burns up. The general practice of putting the cinders next the wood, is not favourable to lighting the fire quickly, or, with little wood; a few cinders may be thrown at the back of the fire, and the rest had better be carried down into the kitchen to be burned there, as small sharp-pointed pieces of fresh coal kindle much more easily than cinders. It is astonishing what a difference there will be, even in a very short time, in the appearance of a room where there is carelessness in lighting the fire; the curtains, the books, everything in the room, gets a soiled appearance, and is unpleasant to the touch. Can there be anything more disagreeable than to find one’s bed-room, at night, cold as a cellar, from the necessity of keeping the window open to the last minute to dispel the smoke which inattention at first has produced, and the smell of which still adheres to every article, instead of finding a warm room, a comfortable arm-chair turned towards a bright fire, a shining kettle singing a quiet tune, and a clean-swept hearth? Some housemaids have a habit of constantly turning the arm-chair away from the fire, and placing it against the wall, and though, morning after morning, they find it has been turned towards the fire, yet they never take the hint, unless an express order is given; and even then, such is the force of careless habits, that it is often not attended to, and they continue so long steadily turning the chair from the fire, that it appears as if they had made a secret vow against both warmth and comfort: an attentive servant, on the contrary, will make use of her own common sense, and will not always wait to be told. If the chair has been turned from the wall to the fire, she will continue to place it there; if more than once she finds the bed-quilt taken off and thrown aside, she will understand that it is found too heavy to be an agreeable covering, and will in future fold it off and leave only the light covering sheet on the bed; if a blanket is pushed down, then let her not carry it away altogether, as there may come a sudden change to cold, and much discomfort may be experienced, but let her leave it tucked in at the bottom of the bed, with the rest of the bed-clothes, and folded down in folds, leaving the end uppermost, so that in a moment the blanket can be drawn up again over the bed: it is vexatious when feeling chilly and half asleep, to find that the end of the blanket has been carefully folded in, and that one must be colder still, and broad awake, before there is a chance of finding it. Such observations may be thought trifling and too minute, but the neglect of many such trifles occasions much discomfort, particularly to those who may be only occasional guests in a family; they may be days in the house without seeing the housemaid to explain their wishes, and even if they have the opportunity, they feel a delicacy in giving orders as to how their fire should be lighted, or their bed-room comfortably arranged, yet much silent annoyance, particularly to the invalid, has been occasioned by a careless housemaid.

A few words may be added here as to carrying fire from room to room in an open pan, and also on leaving the poker in the fire with a view to make it burn up more quickly; both practices are attended with danger; sparks may be blown about by the current of air through which the bearer passes in carrying fire from room to room, and houses have been burned down, and lives lost, by this practice. Leaving the poker in the fire is also attended with much danger, for as the coals which kept it firm at first, burn away, the poker gets loose and falls out, burning the rug through to the floor, and, if not discovered in time, setting fire to the floor itself.

To return, however, to the drawing-room again, after this somewhat long digression. The grate having been cleaned, and the fire lighted, the carpet should now be swept; this does not require to be done every day, except round the table where the family may have been working, and at the door, or in any other corners of the room most in use; and this may be done with a soft hand-brush, making use of the dust-pan to carry away the dust, or any shreds of paper, as you sweep. Using a carpet-brush every day wears the carpet. Every article in the room should now be dusted, the ledges round the walls, the window-frames, the mantelpiece, the backs of the sofas and chairs, shaking the dust, from time to time, over the window while doing it; also the writing-desks, work-boxes, and books, on the different tables, should each be taken up and dusted separately; a duster is preferable to a dusting-brush for all this, as it removes the dust from the article entirely, instead of only scattering it to alight somewhere else; but for the gilt frames of mirrors or pictures, a soft feather-brush should be used. The covers of the sofas and chairs should next be stretched free from creases, and wiped with a perfectly clean duster, not that which has been in use for dusting the furniture. A little management is required in this, as in all other well-regulated arrangements: the duster used for wiping the chair-covers the one day should be laid aside, and kept for dusting the furniture on the next, so that each day a clean duster is made use of for the cushions of the chairs and sofas; from this not being attended to, they are often more _dirtied_ in being _cleaned_ than if they had been left with the dust upon them; with careful management the drawing-room chintz will look long well, even in London. The chair-covers should be stretched very tight over the cushions; if put on loosely they will get into creases, and look soiled in half the time; the cushions on the sofas should also be well shaken up. Care also should be taken in arranging neatly the articles on the different tables; if books are left scattered about, arrange them on the table, putting two or three together, above each other, but do not put a large book above a smaller one; arrange them according to sizes, the largest first. A small basket should be kept on one of the tables, into which should be put any small articles found lying about, such as scissors, thimbles, odd gloves, &c., &c.; and before leaving the room give a glance round to see that everything is in perfect order, and draw down the blinds, and shut the door; but in summer leave a little bit of the window open, to keep the room well aired, or if there is wind and dust flying about, keep the window shut and air the room by leaving the door open. If there are cut flowers in the room change the water in which they are frequently, and pick out any withered ones: withered flowers, which have remained long in the same water, not only give a very untidy look to the room, but also produce a very disagreeable air. Too great attention cannot be given to keep the whole house well aired, by frequently opening the windows, both in the rooms and staircase. Some housemaids have a horror of opening the windows, for fear of admitting the dust, but the dust is not always flying about. Opportunities can be seized, for instance, in a quiet summer evening, when the family are walking out; all the windows and doors of the different rooms should be thrown open for some time, and the house receive a thorough airing; and besides this, each room should be aired at some part of each day by leaving the window open.

The daily routine of the drawing-room work has thus been mentioned, but once a-week more will be required, as the carpet, once a-week, should be thoroughly swept with tea-leaves, and the hearth-rug carried down to the court and well beaten. As soon as the rug has been removed, the grate cleaned and rubbed up, the mantelpiece washed with a sponge and soap and water, and the fire laid, shake the window-curtains, roll them up to the top, and pin them, throw covering-sheets over the sofas and chiffonnieres, remove the chairs to the next room or landing-place, and having sprinkled the carpet over with damp tea-leaves, brush every corner carefully, shifting the sofas and tables, so as to get at every particle of dust that may have gathered under them, and leaving no remote corner untouched in the hope that the eye of the mistress may not penetrate so far. The carpet being swept, carry away the tea-leaves in the dust-pan, either to be thrown out, or, if there is a scarcity, to be put through water, and used a second time in sweeping the floors. The mirrors and picture-frames should be lightly dusted with the feather brush, the mirrors wiped, the furniture, before being carried back to the room, should be dusted and rubbed up in the manner already mentioned, the articles on the different tables dusted and arranged, the inside of the windows wiped, and the china ornaments carefully dusted.[4] All this will require so much time that, even with early rising, it may be necessary to leave some part of the dusting-work to be done after breakfast, as the hour for putting the heater for the tea-urn into the hottest part of the kitchen fire, and taking the breakfast-cloth from the napkin-press will have arrived, and preparations must immediately be made for breakfast.

Before laying the cloth let the housemaid wash her hands, and put on a clean white apron, then, having dusted the table and spread the table-cloth quite smooth upon it, taking care that the fold which marks the middle of the table-cloth should be exactly in the centre of the table, let her bring, on a large tray, the things necessary for breakfast,—the teapot, slop-basin, cups and saucers, plates, knives, silver forks, and tea-spoons, and having arranged them on the table, let the tray be taken down stairs again for the cream, butter, eggs, rolls, and bread; let the butter-dish be filled with the freshest spring-water in summer, the colder the better, and in winter a few drops of warm water should be added, not much, or it will oil the butter, but enough to give the water summer warmth. In arranging all this on the table, attention should be given that all that is necessary has been brought into the room; that each person has, besides his cup and saucer, a plate, knife, and fork; that there is a large knife for cutting bread, a butter-knife, and a spoon for each egg-cup, the salt-cellars filled with salt, and a couple of small breakfast-knives and of tea-spoons laid upon the table, which last articles may at first appear to be the property of no one, but which are generally of essential service, in making it unnecessary for the servant to be rung for during breakfast; it is a rare thing when more knives and spoons are not called for before breakfast is over, and yet the difficulty of getting a servant to attend to this simple order is very great; and if it should chance that on any one morning the spoons or knives have not been made use of, they are sure to be omitted the next. It is the same, often, with regard to the toast at breakfast or tea; if all is not consumed on any one particular day there is less sent up on the next, and often a gradual diminution takes place daily, till the toast-rack presents itself with one solitary piece, which no one has courage to touch. These are the tricks of lazy servants, who, to save a few moments of trouble, bring much discredit upon themselves.

If a friend steps in at breakfast or tea, the maid, after having announced him, should not leave the room till she has put a seat for the guest, and should immediately return with a cup and saucer, plate, and small knife, and not wait till the mistress of the family has had to desire the bell to be rung to order these things. Should it be while dinner is going on that a guest is announced, then the soup, meat and vegetables should quickly be brought back if still warm, if not, immediately warmed up, and replaced on the table. The maid-servant should exercise her own judgment in all this, and not wait for orders, which may make the visitor feel that he is giving trouble; common sense should tell her that, if a guest comes at that hour he expects to dine, and that a warm dinner is better than a cold one.